Drums Rock Analysis – A Beat Rhythm in Virtual Reality

Drums Rock is a Spanish proposal dedicated to virtual reality that we have been able to test on PSVR2. A game where you can be the drummer of a hellish rock band.

The virtual reality It is a technology that allows you to live many experiences up close in a more immersive and direct way. It is a new dimension in video games, just as it happened with the arrival of devices that implemented new ways of playing, as is the case with Guitar Hero or Rock Band. But what if both universes merged into one? Could you fulfill the dream of becoming a rock star without leaving the sofa in your own home?

Well, stop dreaming, because that is precisely what it proposes Drums Rocka videogame born in Spain that invites you to become the drummer of a rock band that plays for hell itself, where there is no shortage of demonic creatures that try to put an end to the concert. The truth is that it is one of the most immersive and curious proposals that PSVR2 offers, after its premiere with Horizon: Call of the Mountain, allowing you to form your own party at home, although perhaps it will stay something far from the experience offered by his main influencesno matter how many years have passed.

Playing in hell itself

One of the great particularities that Drums Rock has is its setting, something that acquires a greater dimension when placing ourselves in the environment of virtual reality. And it is that this particular game takes place in hellSo you have to play for Satan’s own hosts, which doesn’t seem to sit well with them. In this way, what should be a concert to demonstrate your talent with a battery becomes a life or death battle against an army of demons.

And it is that this becomes the main mechanic of Drums Rocks: you have to pound the batterywith its four bass drums and two corresponding cymbals, to the sound of the appearance of the demons and their colors, in the purest style of the musical games that we already know. Your proposal is as simple as it is effective., allowing you to live the rhythm in a very successful way through the use of headphones with 3D surround sound that includes PlayStation VR2. If what you are looking for is a good music game that brings out the best in virtual reality technology and let you step inside the body of a drummer, you’ve come to the right place.

This selection of themes deserves an encore

Of course, a musical game is nothing without a successful selection of themes that allows you to fully exploit your capabilities. Drums Rock knows what it’s doing and includes a dynamic that was not present in their great inspirations. Because beyond resorting to classics like I Love Rock n Rollalso dares with totally original themes and that they give it that pinch of spice and ignorance that causes an even more interesting playable loop.

Lovers of the genre will perfectly know the rhythm of the great songs which, by the way, are not the original versions, but covers that in some cases work and in others not so much. But when it comes to the totally original melodies they are a surprise in both rhythm and representation, so it’s so much more fun to face this uncertain terrain and that forces you to be more attentive than ever to the notes -or demons- that are approaching for its execution. Although, I also have to say that Drums Rock has a quite palpable problem in its main mechanics.

And it is that, although we are facing a tremendously fun game and that, although it does not invent the wheel, it knows what it has to do well, it also has its shortcomings. One of them is the response time of the notes and the excess force that they require on more than one occasion. If you try to take it easy and hit each surface lightly, you’ll probably see a glitch on the screen, so you have to work hard to hit them with more force, which means that after a while when you’ve been giving it your all in a song for 3 or 4 minutes, your arms end up hurting no matter how much you’re sitting on the comfort of the sofa. A weak point that prevents you from enjoying long gaming sessions, Unless your arms are like Vin Diesel’s, which is not the case.

However, it should be noted that It has a good balance between those songs that we all know because they are authentic legends of Rock n Roll and those proposals that are released on this occasion to surprise. There are very good own songs, but also others that skate in this field. Something that, of course, as happens in all musical fields, is nothing more than a totally subjective opinion.

A campaign that is sustained in a diabolical way

Although the Arcade mode is usually the most representative of this type of video game, allowing you to play all those themes that are included in the proposal through a difficulty regulator, Drums Rock delves into the field of campaign mode, with a more than acceptable duration of about 6-7 hours, always depending on your ability. All this through the star system that they give you after finishing each song.

The campaign is divided into three acts in total., for which a very well-chosen group of songs is included and that works like a charm. In order to get additional stars, secondary objectives can be met to encourage replayability: get a number of points, a percentage of perfect, complete combos and much more. However, most interesting of all is that This campaign mode tries to revolutionize the gameplay with drawbacks such as taking away the player’s vision or allowing him to play only with a stick, which becomes an authentic madness of the most entertaining. Of course, all this goes hand in hand with a very well brought learning, with a difficulty curve that invites you to adapt perfectly to its particularities, getting that you can even increase the level to demonstrate your ability to the maximum.

Going into hell has never been so realistic

Virtual reality is the most immersive experience possible, so the setting of Drums Rock in hell is very well done, despite having a colorful appearance and that it does not invite that stifling heat that should be experienced in a realistic environment in these terms. However, his aesthetic works with the genre and allows to differentiate in a good way all those demons that make up the notes that you have to touch But the game goes much further.

Because each of the levels has a setting in which you can see meteorites flying over the sky and rivers of lava threatening to burn your body. As it could not be less, in the final confrontations you will run into the devil himself, who has great animations and powerful attacks that you have to know how to counter, allowing you to take a look at a fantastic aspect of the game and that you are shocked by everything that happens on the screen while you have to worry about hitting the right notes.

In short, it is a game that looks really good on PlayStation VR2 and that allows to extract all the potential of a musical game. In terms of performance, it does not have great difficulties, except for what has been commented on in the response time with some notes and that force that must be printed at certain times. What is most rewarding is the action of haptic feedback with the controls of the virtual reality headset, since they provide the sensation of playing drums in the most realistic way that can be experienced at the moment. It is true that Rock Band included a physical drum set, but the sensations with Drums Rock, being immersed in his proposal, is even more realistic than on that occasion.

Drums Rock Final Rating

Definitely, Drums Rock is a great musical game that allows you to live the proposal in a realistic and immersive way thanks to the technology that allows PlayStation VR2. Although the historical Rock n Roll songs are not the original versions, they work really well, while also including totally original songs that make it a fantastic compendium to enjoy for hours of a concert in your own home.

There are certain things to polish, but I had never thought that there could be such a successful proposal when it comes to representing the idea of ​​playing an instrument and have fun at the same time with a bet based on hell itself to show the devil who’s boss in this scenario. You always have to promote the national product, but on this occasion Drums Rock manages to stand out under its own weight and that is excellent news.